At least one ultrasonic treating apparatus adapted for treating a single workpiece and comprised of a relatively small tank with a sidewall-mounted ultrasonic transducer is provided. The tank may be provided with a movable partition for adjustably partitioning the tank into two sub-chambers, the partition being comprised of a material which is partially reflective and partially transmissive of ultrasonic energy supplied to a liquid within the tank. A reflector is provided within the tank for reflecting the acoustic energy either back to the movable partition or to a material which acts as an absorber of acoustic energy. In the former instance, the acoustic energy can be locally concentrated at a specific spacing from the ultrasonic transducer. In the latter instance, the effectiveness of ultrasonic treatment of the single workpiece is enhanced by favoring formation of progressive waves and minimizing formation of stationary waves.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method of treating a workpiece having a pair of opposed, planar surfaces with ultrasonic energy, comprising the steps of: (a) providing an apparatus comprising: (i) a chamber having an interior space containing therein a liquid, said chamber comprising a bottom wall and a first pair of opposing, longitudinally extending sidewalls connected by a second pair of opposing, transversely extending sidewalls, and a movable partition within said interior space, said movable partition extending transversely at least partway between said first pair of opposing, longitudinally extending sidewalls for adjustably partitioning said interior space into a first sub-space including a planar transducing surface and a second sub-space including said second one of said second pair of opposing, transversely extending sidewalls, each of said first and second sub-spaces extending for a desired, adjustable length alone said first pair of longitudinally extending sidewalls, said movable partition being comprised of a material which is partially reflective and partially transmissive of ultrasonic energy; (ii) an ultrasonic wave energy applying means for supplying ultrasonic energy to said liquid in said chamber, said ultrasonic wave energy applying means including said planar transducing surface forming at least a portion of a first one of said second pair of opposing, transversely extending sidewalls; and (iii) a workpiece mounting means positioned within said interior space of said chamber for mounting therein a workpiece, wherein said workpiece mounting means is positioned in either said first sub-space or said second sub-space at a spacing from said transducing surface which provides said pair workpiece surfaces with a desired amount of ultrasonic power; (b) positioning within said interior space a said workpiece mounting means having a said workpiece, such that each of said pair of workpiece surfaces is in contact with said liquid; and (c) applying ultrasonic energy from said planar transducing surface to said liquid for simultaneous treatment of each of said pair of workpiece surfaces.
2. The method as in claim 1 , wherein: step (c) further includes reflecting ultrasonic energy applied from said planar transducing surface to said liquid via means for reflecting ultrasonic energy located within said interior space.
3. The method as in claim 1 , wherein: step (c) comprises reflecting said ultrasonic energy back to said movable partition.
4. The method as in claim 1 , wherein: step (c) comprises reflecting said ultrasonic energy away from said movable partition and onto an ultrasonic energy absorbing means located within said interior space, thereby increasing the formation of progressive ultrasonic waves within said interior space while decreasing the formation of standing ultrasonic waves.
5. The method as in claim 1 , wherein: step (a)(i) comprises providing a movable partition comprising a sheet of a polyurethane material; and step (a)(iii) comprises positioning said workpiece mounting means within said second sub-space.
6. The method as in claim 1 , wherein: step (b) comprises providing a disc-shaped substrate.
7. The method as in claim 1 , wherein said workpiece mounting means comprises means for mounting a workpiece, said workpiece comprising a pair of opposed, planar surfaces, such that said pair of opposed, planar surfaces are oriented perpendicularly to said planar transducing surface of said ultrasonic wave energy applying means for simultaneously receiving therefrom ultrasonic energy.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
September 15, 2003
August 16, 2005
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